Sit comfortably on your own Iron Throne bean bag
Why squirm uncomfortably on a real Iron Throne made from blades when you can snuggle into a bean bag that looks like the coveted chair in "Game of Thrones." Crave chats with Isabell Kiko about her cozy craft.
No need for mass beheadings and bloody battles to sit in your own version of the infamous best seat in "Game of Thrones." Crafty fan Isabell Kiko reveals how to make this cozy Iron Throne Bean Bag in a tutorial so "Game of Thrones" fans everywhere can watch the hit TV show in comfort.
"It all started when I read that the Iron Throne is 'not a comfortable seat,'" Kiko told Crave. "I thought to myself, 'Well, we'll see about that!' I had made myself a bean bag chair before, and so I know that those things are by far the most comfortable seats ever -- and I challenged myself to merge those two ideas."
To make this Iron Throne Bean Bag, you need paper, a sewing machine, gray canvas, bean bag beans, foam, a zipper, acrylic paint in the colors silver, gold, and black and "a gazillion hours free time," Kiko added in her tutorial.
Indeed, it took several weekends to construct the bean bag chair. "To be a bit more precise, just preparing and cutting out all the pieces took me one season of 'Game of Thrones' (10 hours)," Kiko told Crave. "I painted the fabric during seasons 2 and 3. I wanted to rewatch everything before the start of season 4 anyway and watching people fight over the Iron Throne put me in the right mood. The final sewing and filling only took a couple of hours."
Creating a bean bag chair that actually looked like the Iron Throne proved to be an interesting obstacle for Kiko considering how bean bags don't usually look intimidating enough to suit a warrior.
"Bean bags aren't supposed to keep a certain shape, but I wanted the spikes in the back to stand up nicely," Kiko told Crave. "It is quite scary to start working on a relatively time-expensive project, especially without knowing if it will work out until the very end."
In addition to the shape of the bean bag, Kiko had the unique challenge of painting swords on fabric to resemble the same weapons that make up the Iron Throne.
"I just found out that you can get fabric printed with your own patterns online," Kiko told Crave. "Skipping the painting or at least doing that digitally would have been a huge relief and now that I know of it, I'll definitively try it some day."
For ambitious fans who want to follow her craft tutorial, Kiko has a few bits of advice. "If you can, get someone to help you," Kiko told Crave. "I had some help painting the last two pieces of fabric, which meant I only had to do the shading. Also, filling a huge bean bag on your own is close to impossible."
"I would encourage anybody to come up with some sort of crazy project and just go for it and see what happens," Kiko told Crave. "Don't be afraid to fail; trying will only make you better."
Fans needing more inspiration should check out Kiko's other geektastic projects on her blog, Nerd by Night, such as a "Doctor Who" messenger bag, a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Wesley Crusher Pez dispenser, and a USB spy tie.
